The Mindful Network - Articles - 1001 Ways to Wow Your Customers!

Bike Shop Spins Customer Loyalty

no@spam.com (Rebecca Morgan) — Sun, 30 Nov 2008 15:51:31 EST

The guys at Willow Glen Bicycles in San Jose keep knocking my socks off with their service! Dick and his crew are the kindest, most generous and knowledgeable bike staff around. I’ve watched them take care of the most proficient cyclist with thousand-dollar bikes to kids on Schwinns. When I wheel in my 30+ year-old 10 speed, they never laugh or make me feel like an old lady riding an antique. I’ve been to other local bike shops, including the previous owners at this location, and never been treated so well.

Sell the Sizzle AND the Steak

no@spam.com (Shep Hyken) — Sun, 23 Nov 2008 18:29:56 EST

Morton's, the upscale restaurant chain, claims to sell the "best steak anywhere." I won't argue with that. It is consistently excellent, as are the rest of their menu items. However, they have much more to offer than just an excellent meal. They are a fine example of Amazement in Action.

Finding Your Calling - The Youngest Grocer in America

no@spam.com (Rick Sidorowicz) — Sun, 23 Nov 2008 17:02:39 EST

Alexander Kjerulf is the Chief Happiness Officer and author of Happy Hour is 9 to 5. Here is an inspiring post from his web site.

According to Amy Wrzesniewski, an Associate Professor of Organizational Behavior at Yale School of Management, there are three ways you can approach your work.

A job - You do it for the money.
A career - You do it to advance and get ahead.
A calling - You do it because it gives you a sense of fulfilment.

Want to take a guess how the young man in the video above sees his work?

Be Loyal To Your Customers

no@spam.com (Shep Hyken) — Sat, 22 Nov 2008 17:17:51 EST

So many times we look for our customers to be loyal to us. We want them to buy again and again. We try all kinds of fancy marketing, advertising and sales programs and hope that they will come back or continue to work with us. There is a simple, but powerful, strategy of keeping in touch.

The Customer Service Bill of Rights

no@spam.com (Shep Hyken) — Sun, 09 Nov 2008 18:21:34 EST

Recently I was surprised to read about what the city of Seattle, WA calls their customer bill of rights. It was outstanding, and we can learn quite a bit from a city government that is focused on their customers, who happen to be their citizens and guests of the city.

It’s All About Intent

no@spam.com (Rick Sidorowicz) — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 13:16:33 EDT

Whether you’re B2B or B2C, or just you and me or I, being “of service” starts with your intent, and you can’t fake it. Here are a few ‘take-aways’ from a session with Franklin Covey’s “Helping Clients Succeed.”

“You cannot not communicate your intent.”

So … gotta be clear and conscious about your purpose in this conversation. Are you here to sell a solution or be ‘of service?’ Perhaps you have to ‘move off of the solution’ to be able to make a valuable contribution to your client’s success.

The top four reasons for choosing a service provider.
1. Relationship, compatibility and fit
2. In-depth knowledge of the client’s business
3. Chemistry of the team
4. Technical and product expertise

Looks like they have more than a little to do about your intent and being ‘of service.’ Interesting …

More about Franklin Covey here -
http://www.franklincovey.com/fc/index.jsp?

All-at-once-ness

no@spam.com (Rick Sidorowicz) — Mon, 27 Oct 2008 12:29:55 EDT

Is it a paradox? The great acceleration to a self service economy via mobile and the web and the growing need for more full service experts at the same time? Perhaps it’s just a new model of service that employs the latest technology and good old-fashioned face-to-face great service.

It is so much easier today to gather information, compare alternatives, understand the differences, and truly appreciate the value you offer via the web, and that enables me as the customer to better make informed decisions – and that’s a wow! As a service provider, have you got your multi-channel service delivery act together?

In an earlier post – Self-limiting Service Disabilities – I recapped my adventure scoping out wheelchair access and the service delivery I encountered. My web search led me to an expert provider that responded the same day by email, and as well by phone – with a face-to-face on-site meeting the next day. And yes we did the deal three days later after a little due diligence with the associated electrical work.

Lessons learned (and values re-enforced)

Respond quickly in kind, and then promptly by voice with a view to meet face-to-face. Be an expert, provide information, offer great value, be accessible, follow-up and care – the deal is there.

If you need help with that please visit High Performance Retail .

The Secrets to Getting Better Service

no@spam.com (JoAnna Brandi) — Sat, 25 Oct 2008 18:55:34 EDT

I’d love service to be better - and it’s my goal to transform the mediocre customer service we see in most companies today into “Exquisite Customer Care” - but in the meantime if you want better service - be a better customer! At the very least - meet the service giver half way. And who knows, maybe after having such a wonderful interaction with you, the service giver will be inspired to do better with the next person.

Hug Everyone

no@spam.com (Rick Sidorowicz) — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 12:31:38 EDT

I love Jack Mitchell’s two “hug” books - Hug Your Customers and his latest - Hug Your Employees.

If you’re a ‘hugger’ you might enjoy this video on YouTube.

Six Ways to be Sticky

no@spam.com (Rick Sidorowicz) — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 12:26:24 EDT

In their book Made To Stick, brothers Chip and Dan Heath make the case for six factors (in combination) making the difference between what’s memorable and what isn’t.

Their six factors are:

1. Simplicity (any idea over one is too many)

2. Unexpectedness (a surprise grabs our attention)

3. Concreteness (the more dimensions of details the more hooks our minds use to create a memory)

4. Credibility (even untrue stories don’t stick unless there’s a hint of truth, such as beware of what’s too good to be true in the urban legend that opens the book)

5. Incite Emotions in Listeners (we remember emotional experiences much more than anything else; we care more about individuals than groups; and we care about things that reflect our identities)

6. Combine Messages in Stories (information is more memorable and meaningful in a story form)

SOURCE: The book Made To Stick, and Donald Mitchell’s Amazon review of the book